WHO prepares for worst case Ebola scenario, hopes to deploy vaccine

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GENEVA, May 11 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization is preparing for the worst case scenario in an Ebola outbreak in a remote area of Congo, including spread to a major town, WHO Deputy Director-General of Emergency Preparedness and Response Peter Salama said on Friday.

He told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva that he hoped the Democratic Republic of Congo would give the green light within days for the deployment of an experimental vaccine, but warned that the drug was complicated to use and was not a magic bullet.

He said the WHO had alerted the nine neighbouring countries but currently regarded the risk of regional spread as “moderate”. (Reporting by Tom Miles Editing by Catherine Evans)